Saturday, February 04, 2012

Kapil Sibal's defense

New Delhi. Union Minister Kapil Sibal has blamed the British rulers of the pre-Independence era for the massive loot of country’s wealth, which has resulted in unequal distribution of resources among the citizens of India. However, Sibal didn’t categorically term this “loot” as any “crime” or “corruption” as the Supreme Court had not passed any explicit verdict condemning the loot, which has been going on ever since India got independence.

Sibal was reacting to the criticism by various commentators who claim that the governance in India has not changed much ever since the Britishers left. Many laws framed during the British era are still in place and so is the mindset of those who are in power.

Kapil Sibal blaming someone when the microphone started malfunctioning during the press conference

“Gore angrez chale gaye aur kaale angrez aa gaye” (black Englishmen have replaced the white Englishmen after Independence) was one of the comments left by a person called Anna Hazare, which had led to the criticism.

While the original commentator couldn’t dwell upon his theory, various other experts agreed that the basic system and idea of governance has remained the same as was put in place by the British rulers – which was aimed at welfare of the principals rather than welfare of the subjects.

“We are just following the policy that was set up by our predecessors,” Kapil Sibal defended the outlook of the governments after independence, most of which were formed by the Congress party.

When asked if the government didn’t find the policy set by the British rulers unjust, Sibal almost blamed the founding fathers of the nation.

“We retained much of the British system of governance, including a substantial part of the constitution,” Sibal pointed out.

“No, Jawaharlal Nehru can’t be blamed for that,” he clarified, giving clean chit to the first Prime Minister of India.

The Union Minister said that the government would stop following the British rulers’ policies only if the Supreme Court passed an order declaring those policies unfair and flawed. In absence of any such ruling, the government will continue to follow the old policies, which many term as “loot”.

“You may term it as loot, but this is just notional,” Mr. Sibal said with a heavy tone and heavier eye-brow, “There is zero loss as the wealth is not going outside India, definitely not to England. Our Queen is no longer in London, but in Delhi.”